Dādū Dayāl

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Dādū Dayāl (1545?-1603) was a religious teacher and poet in the Sant tradition who lived in Rajasthan and gave rise to a sect named the Dādūpanth (“Path of Dādū”). Dādū is the respectful endearing Rajasthani term for “grandfather” rather than a variant of the Muslim name Dā῾ūd. Dayāl(u) (“Compassionate”), sometimes also Dīndayāl(u) (“Compassionate with the Afflicted”), is an epithet attached to his name. Both epithets were used by Dādū h…